FOR 12/7

E. MARTIN HENNINGS WORKS ON VIEW AT ZAPLIN LAMPERT IN SANTA FE

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SANTA FE, N.M. — “E. Martin Hennings: Works from the Estate” will be on view December 14–January 5 at Zaplin Lampert Gallery. An opening reception will be Friday, December 14, 5 to 7 pm.

The exhibition of paintings and works on paper by acclaimed Taos artist E. Martin Hennings presents a group of paintings from the estate of the artist and features scenes of Italy, France and New Mexico. Hennings was a member of the famed Taos Society of Artists and is celebrated for his vibrant palette and masterful draftsmanship.

Hennings was born on February 5, 1886, in Penns Grove, N.J., to German immigrant parents. The family relocated to Chicago and Hennings graduated from the Chicago Art Institute in 1904 but continued his studies while beginning work as a commercial illustrator.

Elected to full membership in the Taos Society of Artists in 1924, Hennings married Helen Otte in July 1926. During a 16-month honeymoon during which the couple visited Italy, Spain, France and Spanish Morocco, Hennings actively painted and sketched throughout the trip. The upshot of this ambitious journey was that Hennings became the only member of the Taos Society to produce a significant body of European work subsequent to his election to membership in the organization.

Most of the members of the Taos Society had studied in European academies as young men and examples of Continental subjects by Higgins, Couse, Ufer, Sharp and others are well documented. Hennings alone was a fully mature artist, in the heyday of his career, when he undertook his extended European journey. The paintings he created during this period exhibit the superior draftsmanship and exuberant color sense that characterize his better known Taos oeuvre.

The paintings, drawings and prints presented in “E. Martin Hennings: Works from the Estate” have been in the collection of the artist’s family since his death in 1956. The majority of them have never been exhibited before.

The Zaplin Lampert Gallery is at 651 Canyon Road. For information, 505-982-6100 or www.zaplinlampert.com.